


Across the Bridge

by the_real_anonymouse66



Category: Original Work
Genre: Canon Gay Character, Canon Gay Relationship, Canon LGBTQ Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Lesbian Relationship, F/F, Gay, Homelessness, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Female Character, LGBTQ Themes, Lesbian Character, MSPA format, Minecraft, Music, Musicians, Running Away
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-03
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:21:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26269417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_real_anonymouse66/pseuds/the_real_anonymouse66
Summary: Two lesbians run away.And then they invade a Hen House and cook ramen and play Minecraft and earn money and get lost in music and go on an expedition and cross a bridge.But mostly just run away.
Relationships: Riley Adair/Zara Monroe
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> across the bridge - updates every thursday
> 
> scratch studio: https://scratch.mit.edu/studios/27453016/
> 
> other atb projects (q/a, animation, mini backstory, etc.) to be added at your request

It can be hard to keep quiet about a crush.

That's something you've learned early on in your life, unfortunately.

Having a boy crush can be hard enough. But when you've heard gay jokes-- "That's so _gay_!" "I'm lesbian, I only like girls" "Your mom's gay!", mostly said by boys--all your life since middle school, every crush you've had... has had to be a complete secret. No exceptions. Even if you told your closest friend, Austin (who you get teased enough about being friends with, ugh), he might cut your only lifeline to social security by leaving you.

But it kills you _so much_ to keep Riley Adair a secret.

She's not smart or a standout or loud. She's nothing anyone would notice. She's just a normal student, with her green hoodie, long dirty-blond hair, short height, and jeans.

But she's something special to you. Something stands out about her.

But, of course, everyone seeing you awkwardly talking to her would think you're friends. Unlike you and Austin, who you would never date, the thought would probably never ever cross their minds.

You've texted with Riley, and you hope she's something different.

You really do.

You snap back to reality, trying to remember where you are.

The hall is filled with kids, talking and chatting. You grip your backpack straps tightly, hoping none of them are talking to you.

What class were you going to... right. Computer science.

...Crap, Riley sits two seats down from you in that class. You hope you can manage forty-five minutes without giving anything away.

You enter the room, looking towards your seat near the back of the left wall. Austin's seat is on your left, and on _his_ left...

An empty seat.

_What?_

You sit down in your assigned seat and turn to Austin, slightly panicking. You hope it doesn't show.

ZARA: Where's Riley, Aus?

Austin gives you the "really" face.

AUSTIN: Why do you care?

AUSTIN: I mean, she's probably just sick or something.

AUSTIN: It's really nothing to worry about. She would've said something if it was going to make her leave for a while, Zara.

ZARA: Alright fine I won't ask :/

But the next day...

and the next...

Riley's seat is completely unoccupied.

There are rumors about what happened to her. No one's seen her since she first stopped going to school. She got sick, she got kidnapped, she was forced to move without telling anyone.

She hasn't texted you, which is weird. She texts a lot.

It's like she disappeared off the face of the earth.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> minor trigger warning-- f-bomb

You’re sitting in your living room. Your parents aren’t home, which gives you time to think about your choice.

You’ll about explode if you had to wait another day. It’s so pressurizing to have everyone tell you it’s about time to have a boyfriend, who are you dating, that guy over there looks pretty cute why don’t you talk to him. You wish you could tell them all you can’t, but the words won’t come out of your mouth. And what would _they_ say?

You check your texts again. Still nothing from Riley. You’ve been trying to get a response from her for weeks, but nope.

You sigh and flop on the ground. Why did it have to be this way? 

You really have three choices: to come out, to hide, or to run. You can’t hide anymore—it’s just too much.

You can’t come out either. Even though you don’t know if your parents are really homophobic, you can’t. You’re a fucking coward.

You have only one option left. But why would you run away from your house? They provide you with food, shelter, and rest. But you can only imagine what would happen if you told them you weren’t normal.

_Unnatural devil-spawn._

_You already have a boyfriend!_

_Why would you choose to do this?_

_You don’t deserve to be our daughter._

You squeeze your eyes shut, trying to silence the voices of your parents. They won’t listen.

You think about what you could be doing right now: writing the hardest email you've ever had to write. But no. You can't.

You can't come out, you can't stay. So it's decided. You'll run.

Thirty minutes later, you've packed your backpack chock-full of everything you'll need to survive a few days and there's still no sign of your parents. You go out the back door to prevent anyone seeing you.

You text Riley one last time.

ZARA: Hey

ZARA: I'm running away right now and

ZARA: Um

ZARA: If you can just please text me back as soon as possible

ZARA: I have no idea what the hell I'm doing

Almost instantly, Riley surprises you.

RILEY: 911 whats your emergency

ZARA: WAIT WHAT

RILEY: yeah im alive genius

ZARA: Well yeah I knew that but like

ZARA: What even happened to you? Where are you

RILEY: come to the old hen house so we can work this out

ZARA: That is not reassuring


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> guys im so sorry i havent kept up the updates in a few weeks
> 
> ill try to update biweekly at most since school exists but hopefully ill be able to keep up the schedule better from now on :)

You stand ouside the doors of an old Hen House that is no longer in business. You're waiting for someone to come. It could only be one person. You wouldn't trust _anyone_ else with your location.

Your name is Riley Adair. You are a teenage runaway, having been classified as missing by the police for two months. You live in a town sitting on the edge of the Mississippi River, with a fairly large city on the other side of the river. You identify as homoromantic and asexual, which your parents are not a huge fan of.

You've been living inside a Hen House for two months. It's gotten pretty boring, so even though in retrospective you're not very excited about inviting your middle school crush to your secret homeless hideout, you need some change in your life for once.

You spot Zara coming into the parking lot in front of the Hen House. She's panting; she must have run here. You realize you probably should have told her about the shortcut to the Hen House that did _not_ involve walking a mile and a half along a very crowded street. Oh well. It was her fault if the police caught you. She shouts something at you:

ZARA: HEY

RILEY: COME OVER HERE BEFORE YOU SHOUT AT ME

ZARA: HUH

You roll your eyes and walk over to her.

ZARA: Oh hi

RILEY: hi

RILEY: whatcha doing coming over here

ZARA: Chickened out on something 

RILEY: really? haha okay

You motion for her to follow you over to the doors of the Hen House. They're closed and locked.

RILEY: open the doors

ZARA: ...Okay?

She tries. Haha, the sucker realizes they're locked too late.

RILEY: you might need these

You toss a lockpicking kit you got for your birthday for some reason to Zara.

ZARA: What the hell is this

RILEY: you pick the locks with it

ZARA: But how

RILEY: lemme just show you

You grab her hands and show her how to pick the press the wrench and move the other thing around until all the pins are clicked.

ZARA: Well cool

ZARA: Can you let me open the door now

Blushing, you realize that you're still holding onto Zara's hands.

RILEY: yeah oops hehe

You scratch the back of your head and hope Zara never remembers that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i was too lazy to put in the color html, sowwy

Your name is Zara Monroe, and you regret every decision you've made in the past hour.

Riley's shelter takes up only a small corner of the closed grocery store, and it's not very well furnished. There's a backpack, a viola case, some blankets, a pillow, and a chevron-patterned blanket hung up for privacy. She sits down on the patchwork of blankets strewn about.

ZARA: Uh

ZARA: Was I supposed to bring a pillow

RILEY: um probably

ZARA: So you brought your instrument too

RILEY: yeah what do you play

You heft your case in your right arm for her to see.

ZARA: Trumpet

RILEY: oh cool

You sit in silence for a little bit. You decide to start unpacking the things you put in your backpack. At first you only take out the things you need to make yourself comfortable, like the blanket you stowed, but then you take out your notebook and stare hard at it. You've been writing poetry a lot lately. Even though you know you were only supposed to take things necessary for survival, like food, water, money, a pocket knife, et cetera, you found yourself unable to leave it at home with your parents, just for them to learn your darkest secrets.

You glance up at Riley for pointers on what to do next. Even though you don't have a watch, your phone shows the time: 5:06. You've already plugged it into a socket here. Even though no one goes to this Hen House anymore, it still has electricity. It's probably why Riley picked this place.

ZARA: Should I make dinner

RILEY: its 5 right now idiot

ZARA: I know 

ZARA: But there's nothing else to do

RILEY: nah lets do something else

ZARA: Like what

RILEY: play a game or something

ZARA: Oh

ZARA: Do you have your laptop or something

RILEY: yeah

Riley pulls her Chromebook out of her backpack.

ZARA: Nice

ZARA: Can you enter this URL then

You tell her the game URL as you pull out your Macbook. It's ancient, but it's fine.

RILEY: haha

RILEY: what the hell is this

ZARA: Do you have a mouse

RILEY: why would i its a laptop

ZARA: You're sort of going to need one

RILEY: you dont have one

ZARA: Yeah, but I've already played this a ton

RILEY: so how do i play

ZARA: You have to make an account first

RILEY: okay

She clicks around for a minute before looking back at you

RILEY: okay what next 

You show your screen to Riley, and she types in the code shown on your laptop.

ZARA: Okay

ZARA: Now I'm going to start the game

ZARA: It's a third-person shooter so you're going to have to learn a lot of things

RILEY: okay

You click "start game." It's a duos round, meaning you and Riley are on a team alone.

RILEY: aaaaaa

RILEY: how do you move

ZARA: WASD keys

RILEY: and shooting?

ZARA: You click-- you press the number keys to use different items and change guns

RILEY: oh okay lemme just--

Suddenly, a duo enters the building you're currently looting. They easily knock out Riley, and by then, you're outmatched. Riley cheers you on from behind you.

RILEY: go go go

RILEY: cmon they have to be on low health by now

RILEY: lets go...

Your player explodes. The standings list shows up-- you're dead.

You dissolve into laughter.


	5. Chapter 5

It's around 7 PM. You're heating up instant ramen in a camping stove that Riley somehow managed to steal from her house after running away. _Ramen is overrated_ , you think, as you take a tiny sip of the too-spicy noodle broth. Ugh.

You have to keep eating, though. Living in an abandoned organic grocery store means you won't have much food to go by on. This ramen will be best enjoyed hot, if ever.

You look at Riley, who seems to be eating her instant ramen just fine, and then glare back down at the offending dish.

You manage to shove the rest of it down your throat and then take a large sip from your water bottle.

When you finish drinking, you notice Riley looking at you.

RILEY: so

RILEY: whatre you going to do now

RILEY: are you still going to go to school

ZARA: What

ZARA: Duh

RILEY: wait really

ZARA: Yeah

ZARA: It's basically my only chance to get a job eventually

RILEY: uh

RILEY: you make good points

RILEY: but

ZARA: Yeah I know

ZARA: But what's the point of that if we can't make money two years from now

RILEY: ...

RILEY: i dunno

RILEY: i guess you can go

ZARA: Yeah, I guess

The two of you sit in silence until Riley falls asleep.

Eventually, when you are sure you wouldn't wake up Riley, you creep to another corner of the darkened grocery store with your trumpet case. She probably didn't bring her viola with her in her case -- probably just used it for storage -- but you couldn't just stop playing it. Plus, if you're going back to school, you should probably show up to band class with your actual instrument.

You assemble it, lift it out of its case, and begin playing a tune you heard someone playing on the piano once. It's a little Latino-y, something you can imagine a woman in a red dress dancing to alone. It was probably a tune for middle schoolers to play at recitals in their fanciest clothing originally, but it has a glamorous but homey vibe to you. 

You don't notice Riley sitting up across the room until she walks over to you. 

RILEY: couldnt sleep?

ZARA: Yeah

RILEY: okay

ZARA: What woke you up

RILEY: im a light sleeper

RILEY: so you working on something for band 

ZARA: No, just something for fun

A lightbulb goes off in your brain suddenly.

ZARA: Maybe... I could perform it? Like for a crowd

RILEY: why

ZARA: You know

ZARA: To make money

RILEY: cool

RILEY: could i join in maybe

ZARA: Wdym

Riley goes over to her corner where she has her stuff. To your surprise, she comes back holding her viola.

ZARA: You still have it?

RILEY: yup

ZARA: Well

ZARA: I guess we should start working on it I guess

RILEY: maybe tomorrow night

ZARA: Yeah haha

RILEY: go back to bed now

She smiles at you and dissappears back behind the chevron towel to sleep again.


End file.
